Swappie, established in 2016, is a fast-growing, prominent player in the European market for pre-owned and refurbished iPhones, originating right here in Finland.
Through Swappie’s rapid growth, they noticed that while Performance Max campaigns delivered positive results, their “black-box” nature presented a challenge. Despite initial success, performance plateaued, leaving Swappie with limited insight into the drivers behind the outcomes.
Operating in a Black-Box
Through Swappie’s rapid growth they noticed that while Performance Max campaigns delivered positive results, their “black-box” nature presented a challenge. Despite initial success, performance plateaued, leaving Swappie with limited insight into the drivers behind the outcomes.
The objective then became clear: to move beyond the vague workings of PMax, gain greater control, and strategically align its operation more closely with Swappie’s overarching business goals to unlock further efficiency and growth.
Prioritization Model into Action
By leveraging Swappie’s business insights, Expanly’s prioritization model identified individual phone variants with the highest sales potential in the shopping network.
The results were clear: already after the first month, profitability improved by 20%.
Impressive Results: 20% Efficiency Boost in Month One
Even for a team that had “meticulously optimized” their Performance Max campaigns, the impact of Expanly’s prioritization model was immediate and significant.
By strategically prioritizing individual phone variants based on business insights rather than historic performance alone, Swappie was able to direct Google’s algorithm toward products with the highest sales potential, unlocking efficiency that traditional optimization couldn’t achieve.
We had optimized to the fullest, leaving no room for further improvements – yet still saw a 20% efficiency boost in just the first month with Expanly.
Niko Kankkunen
Growth Marketing Manager, Swappie
Why It Worked: Strategic Prioritization Over Historic Performance
The key to Swappie’s success wasn’t just optimizing campaigns—it was teaching Google’s algorithm what actually mattered to their business.
- Business Logic Meets Algorithm Intelligence. By encoding business insights about product variants into the feed, Expanly enabled Google to prioritize based on sales potential rather than just past clicks.
- Beyond Traditional Optimization. Even when campaigns are “fully optimized,” there’s still room for improvement when you give the algorithm better guidance about what to prioritize.
- Quick Implementation, Fast Results. The impact was measurable within the first month, demonstrating the power of strategic prioritization.
What This Means for Retailers With Complex Inventories
If you’re selling products with multiple variants—whether it’s phone models, clothing sizes, or any SKU-level inventory—you’re likely facing the same challenge Swappie overcame.
Performance Max is powerful, but it needs guidance. By embedding your business logic into the product feed, you can help the algorithm understand not just what sold yesterday, but what should sell tomorrow.